CARSON, Calif.— Superb performances by Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Ola Kamara burst the LA Galaxy out of their doldrums and helped the team secure a 3-0 victory over Real Salt Lake on Saturday night.
Ibrahimovic finished the game with a brace, his third multi-goal game for the season and the most in MLS. Kamara finished the game with a goal and continued his success against Real Salt Lake as he scored his sixth goal in three career games against Salt Lake.
The two found their rhythm together early in the second half as the frequency of their combination play increased leading to goal scoring opportunities. During the second half flurry, Kamara and Ibrahimovic completed seven of 11 passes in the final third.
“They’ve only had moments together; they really haven’t had games together," a pleased Galaxy head coach Sigi Schmid said. "There were balls that Zlatan played into him. They’re finding each other a little more.”
Los Angeles started out in a 4-2-3-1, but as the second half began, Kamara and Ibrahimovic started to play centrally more as it allowed for them to combined more and created goal scoring opportunities for the Galaxy.
“Today I think, when we changed to two strikers it worked easier. I think we are more stable. Today, we were more direct. We were more in our game,” Ibrahimovic said.
The connection between Kamara and Ibrahimovic during the match showed the promise for Los Angeles offensively as it showed that they compete with the better teams in the Western Conference.
“I think the way we competed in this game was important, the shutout gives confidence to all the defenders and all the midfielders of course, and also scoring a couple of goals gives us attackers a lot of momentum and positive feelings,” Kamara said. “I think this is when to build up”
